Why are Machine Guns legal? What does anyone need with one?

Sgt Kelli Mays "I am all for the 2nd amendment" Actually your not.
It appears you are a person that wishes to pick and choose what part you want to support, and then throw out the rest.
Do you support the 1st amendment, except when people say something you disagree with? Use words you wish they did not?
Do you agree with the 14th amendment? Unless it's just to inconvenient to get a warrant and in that case unreasonable search is ok?

Perhaps you might do some research into what a "Machine Gun is... I don't think based on what you wrote, you understand the term. If by chance you are referring to the made up Media / political hack term "Assault weapon" its still incorrect, as that weapon would be the same as a Machine gun, a fully auto or select fire weapon.. The likes of which I guess you have never seen used in a "Drive by"

Can you cite the crimes committed in the US that took place with a "Machine Gun" ?
Are you aware of the federal regulations and restrictions of a "Machine Gun"

I thank you for your post and question, an open mind is a great thing... Likely we will not change each other opinion, but being aware of that opposing opinion makes us both wiser.

Then you don't understand the meaning of the Second Amendment. Let me see if I can help. At it's writing, America did not have a standing army and all able-bodied men from 17 to 45 were considered the militia and when called up, they were expected to show with "arms and sufficient powder and shot" to face the threat. In other words, their personal arms were their military arms. The only arms supplied by the state were the crew served weapons (cannon).

And the purpose of the Second Amendment is not about shooting sports, hunting or even self-defense. It is about keeping the government in check. Every dictator in history has known that in order to enslave the people, one must first dis-arm them. King George tried that in the 1770's, Lennin did it in the 1920's, Hitler in the 1930/40's. And we have individuals in and out of government in our country today that desire to do the same to us.

It is said, during WWII, when Admiral Yamamoto was asked why the Japanese Imperial forces did not invade the US Mainland after Peral Harbor, he stated that doing so would be at great peril as those forces would face a rifle behind every blade of grass.

I believe that America will never be defeated by an armed foe, but by those that would take our Constitutionally protected rights away from us. And in order to succeed, they know they must eliminate or subvert the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Banning things has absolutely nothing to do with controlling crime. It has everything to do with controlling people.

Perhaps like many hobbies or other pursuits, because they are fun to shoot. The browning M2 is one of my all time favorite weapons. Granted it has no use in polite society, but it is fun to shoot.

I'm not downvoting, but, "What does anyone need ...", grates on my nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard. It's the pat phrase of those who are not interested in a discussion, but are pretending to be reasonable while telling someone else what to do.

What do we need alcohol for? What do you need a gas-guzzling monster truck for? What do we need cigarettes for? What do you need a car for? (We have public transportation, bicycles and feet, don't we?) What do we need washers and dryers for? (Couldn't we do what great grandma did, wash in a tub and hang our close on the line?) What do we need golf clubs for? (Not only the club itself, but look at all that land that could be used to house Syrian refugees!) What do we need boxing, football games, soccer games, rugby, any athletic contest for? (Just look at all those opportunities to discriminate, when we all know that everyone is a winner and everyone gets a trophy.) What do we need gated communities, airplanes, butcher knives, baseball bats, nitrogen-based fertilizer ...

I hope it's obvious by now that FREE people are able to make choices, and sometimes make bad choices. We don't need drunks to get behind the wheel and kill someone, but that still happens, and I don't hear a lot of people asking what we need alcohol for. People have to right to risk their lives as they choose, for example rock climbing, which has one of the highest fatality rates of any sport. People have the right to KILL themselves with cigarettes.

And people have the right to hunt. People have the right to shoot targets. People have the right to defend their family, their property and their lives, and a responsible person practices with the tools he intends to use to defend himself.

Instead we should be reminding people that the shooter is responsible for the complete trajectory of each bullet from muzzle to final resting place. If a rapist breaks in your front door, you hose him with your uzi, but kill an innocent bystander, you are a MURDERER.

On the other hand, if I am a responsible adult, acknowledge and accept responsibility for every bullet I fire, then I shouldn't have to answer meddling, nosy, stupid questions from people unwilling to accept the same responsibility.

I will personally never chose to own a machine gun. I do not expect to be attacked by 100 rabid zombies requiring a street sweeper to stay alive. If a mob attacks, I'm sure I can kill the first dozen using my semi-automatic weapons. There's no 100% guarantee of safety and fearful people need to quit expecting it. But I like my odds.

The answer is simple:

My response is why shouldn't I be able to? This great nation and the Constitution which I pledged my very life to defend was founded on freedom and liberty. No limits except what I put on myself. So the simple answer is this: I have done nothing to prohibit or limit my freedoms that are unalienable, so if I want one, who are you, or anybody else to tell me that I can't have one?

Because there might come a day when you will need it to defend yourself from the government.

Hi there, great question. First things first. Understand there is a difference between a fully automatic firearm (M4 platform) and a machine gun (M240/M249/M60/etc...) One is a select fire weapon capable of semiautomatic / Fully automatic / 3 round burst whereas the other is belt fed.
The driveby's you refer too are almost exclusively semiautomatic weapons. Frankly because the average gangbanger could not afford the cost of a select fire platform or a machine gun. Even the most rudimentary eastern bloc AK47 AK74 would run over 5 grand and other platforms command prices north of 100K.
Although legal to own thereare heavy licensing restrictions on such weapons.
At the end of the day firearms in the hands of civilians whether a Saturday night special all the way to a mini-gun is NOT about need. At the core of civilians owning firearms is for the day (god forbid) that our government (the same government I served to protect and continue to serve as a civilian contractor) turns on its own people.